the intended actions of their PCs, and the GM describes the situation, outcomes, complications, interference, and the other various actions of the NPCs. Players are also responsible for making sure that their PCs act only on the knowledge the characters would posses, not the Players, as the Players may have read the entire book and uncovered secrets that their characters may not know.

Each PC in Oubliette is written on a Character Sheet which holds a number of different pieces of data and statistics about that character. These pieces of information are arranged into sections.

Vital Statistics include the character’s name, the Player’s name, Race, and Faction associations. It also includes several mechanical items as well. Caste and Rank describe how much influence the character has on the world. Refresh determines how many Fate Points a PC begins each game session with. In general, Fate Points allow you to assert a little control over the way the narrative unfolds. GMs get Fate Points as well, but they get a different number and use them for different things.

The Aspects Section is a list of several Aspects, which are phrases that describe something about a character that is interesting. There are several different kinds of Aspects. A character’s High Concept indicates what the character is like, what they do, and what their purpose in the story is in a single phrase. A character’s Trouble indicates a major issue or challenge the character has to deal with. Each of the other Aspects describe some other part or element of the character. Aspects exist to make the character interesting to play.

The Skills Section is primarily a list of abilities and talents that describe what a character can do mechanically, within the game system. Each Skill has a Rating associated with it that tells the Player how much to add to a dice roll when using that Skill. The Skills Section also has a spot for your Skill Cap which is the maximum Rating one of your skills can have.

The Stunts Section is a list of special powers that your character has. Each Stunt usually relates to either a Skill you have, your Race, or a Faction you are allied with. Stunts allow you to do things above and beyond the normal use of Skills. Each Stunt is initially bought with Refresh, making characters with lots of Stunts more specialized, while characters with fewer Stunts are less specialized but more flexible.

The Stress Section holds three Stress Tracks, each of

which is a major part of your defenses in a particular area. Each Stress Track has several Stress Boxes that you will be marking off and clearing out in different forms of Conflict. Stress Boxes are cleared after Conflicts, making them very useful for absorbing damage safely.

The Consequences Section has another list. Each Consequence you have is another way to absorb a certain amount of damage. Consequences stick around longer than Stress does, and each Consequence is named based on what sort of wound the character has taken.

There is also an Information Section on the Character Sheet that holds a few charts that are good to have on hand. The Ladder describes values in terms of impressiveness and effectiveness. The Actions & Outcomes chart shows the correlation between the Four Actions and the Four Outcomes. The Caste Chart gives the starting statistics for characters of a given Caste.

Note that there is no section for equipment on the sheet. In general, Oubliette assumes that if you have a Skill, you have the tools to use it. If your character wields an artifact of truly great power, make it an Aspect or a Stunt.

§1.8.1

A Note for D&D PlayersMany Players may come to Oubliette with a background

in the Dungeons & Dragons™ games by Wizards of the Coast, rather than Fate Core, and may need to adjust their way of thinking slightly.

Oubliette is a narrative role-playing game, rather than a tactical role-playing game. It focuses on the organic, elaborate stories of the characters involved. Monsters may be allies as often as they are enemies, and in fact non-humanoid characters are some of the more interesting characters to play in Oubliette. Tactical miniature combat is eschewed in favor of cinematic, narrative-driven conflicts. Systems are streamlined and unified, so that the same basic resolution mechanic works for almost all rolls. You will also find that Level does not directly equate to Caste, and that the scale of the two systems is vastly different. Races are more flexible, there are no classes, and the history of your character’s power may not be a linear upward trend.

Though by default it still includes dice mechanics, Oubliette is towards the “story” end of the role-playing game spectrum, whereas D&D is usually considered somewhere towards the “game” end. As long as you’re aware of this difference, you should be fine.

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I live for one thing. It is something fleeting, something obscure, and I am the only one who even knows of it. If not for my light, my muse, I would be long since Broken.

She is beautiful beyond words, slinking from a dirty hole in the wall of luto viam, across the street, and into the tiny bakery two stair flights above the murky streets. She does it every morning, and for just those few minutes, I am at peace. Everything else is weariness and grime and discomfort. So important are these glimpses of hope that I have ensconced myself on the roof of a building not far away, my feet and hands melding into the stone, immobile for decades.

It is her devotion, perhaps, that is so heartbreakingly lovely about her. Not a day goes by that she does not tend the store. No weekends, no respite. She is never ill, never even tired. She is the dawn, the perpetual sun rising on my grim world. Except for today.

Today she isn’t there.

—Sindorstone the Gargoyle

It would be an understatement to say that Oubliette is a strange place. Oubliette, by its very definition, is the place where unusual things go when they cease existing in the World of Life. It is full of unique creatures, bizarre technologies, and peculiar magics, but more than that, it is a city built around utilizing these outlandish resources in whatever way possible. Given the apparently limitless lifespan of the creatures and people of Oubliette, these resources are combined, mixed, broken down, rebuilt, modified, and reincarnated so thoroughly that they are usually unrecognizable from their original state. What might have once been an Eyeweed may have blossomed into a tree, become a god, turned to stone, crumbled, and been used to build a house thousands of years before a newcomer from the World of Life could even lay eyes on it. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Some of the things that live in the Castle hail from far beyond mortal experience, having been birthed in eternal shadow or forged in by the forgotten desires of dead gods. Oubliette, as they say, is strange.

Generally, life in Oubliette ranges from hard and grinding to effectively impossible, depending on where one goes and what one does to adapt. And adapt one must, because Oubliette is not an easy place to live. Food is scarce, death offers no release, dangerously powerful creatures stalk the streets, and the very environment itself is actively hostile in most of the Castle. Even the fundamental assumptions about life and existence are challenged here. A man can lie starving for hundreds of years, shriveled, immobile, and failing to die.

§2.1

The Key TruthsThere are several important axioms that newcomers must

come to grips with before they can even begin to adapt to life in Oubliette.� You are Immortal. You will not remain dead, even if killed.� The Mind is Fragile. Staying sane is harder than staying alive.� Dying Hurts. It is better not to die, both for mind and body.� Life is Motion. Stagnation leads to senescence and Breaking.� Power is Structure. Caste binds and separates us.

§2.1.1

The BreakingThe maxim “life is motion” is among the most important

of the Key Truths, because it hints at the division between the Broken and the Unbroken. The phrase itself is sometimes misleading to newcomers: you will not die if you stay in one spot for a night,1 nor does Breaking kill you. Instead, the phrase illustrates that ennui is the enemy of immortality.

You may be immortal in Oubliette, but that does not prevent you from going quite mad, and in fact does much to push people in that direction. It is easy to give up when confronted with the Key Truths. It is easy to let infinitude wear the mind to nothing. It is easy to lay in the gutter, wasting away for eons.

You must keep an active mind and pursue a life in which you go out and do things. If you do not, you will quickly degrade into one of the countless Broken who litter the streets, forever begging, mumbling, rambling, or moaning about their impossible plight.

Avoid this fate. Remain Unbroken. Meet the World of the Forgotten head-on and refuse it a victim.

§2.1.2

ReproductionIt is a well-known and thoroughly-established fact that

the denizens of Oubliette are incapable of reproduction, and certainly not for lack of trying. The aurochs of Stonewald do not have a calving season. The bawdy houses in Grandhall do not brew teas to prevent conception. Some of the Refuse and Dreg-Caste non-sentients seem to have normal ecologies, but no one is sure whether this is actually

1 Depending on the spot in question, of course.

§2 Oubliette’s Life Eternal

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§3.2.4

LostRank 3, Mundane

He strolled past the center of town, every inch of him shining. The sun caught his armor and it hurt our eyes

to watch, but watch we did. It was not every day we got to meet someone who had sworn to kill a dragon.

—A low-blood in Grandhall

This Caste is made up of the most potent people that mortals would have been familiar with. It forms an upper limit of what

mundane humans would have considered possible. Knights and other veteran soldiers often arrive in this Caste. For most newcomers, the fact that there could be creatures beyond this

Caste is almost unimaginable. In this Caste are also a fair number of weakly magical beings.

Primary Concerns: Lost Caste humanoids need to worry about starvation only occasionally. They are strong enough to take or make

food as needed, and they can enforce their will on a large portion of the population. This means that they can start focusing their efforts on their own personal goals. Non-humanoid lost often continue to eat, or seek out whatever source gives them their power.

Examples: Shadetailp340, Plumepreenp323, Junk Mongerp292, Sir Wilhelm Drake, Order of the Wyrmp341

§3.2.5

FallenRank 4, Mythological

She leaves footprints that burn. You can see her sometimes from this ridge, down where the slope meets the Murder Heat. Best not to approach, however. She’s perfumed in sulfur and her kiss can melt steel.

—Lod, a goblin scout and hopeless romantic

Many creatures that are considered supernatural end up in this Caste. Old world monsters, such as ogres and trolls often end up here, at least until they’ve spent a few thousand years in Oubliette. The fallen are the lowest of the middle rank and can often pose a powerful threat to even experienced mortal heroes.

Primary Concerns: Supernatural powers often have costs or requirements, and these are integral to the lives of many of the fallen. Other creatures are relatively stable in terms of needs and instead pursue their own wild passions.

Examples: Essence of Firep271, Leprivorep299, Stone Mongerp345

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§3.2.7

EminentRank 6, Mythological

Staggering under its burden, the bird-lizard trudges. It has been piled high with heaps of plate mail and kevlar, chain-links and silk and what looks to be bottled mercury. A tattered sign on its side proclaims deals for any merchant daring enough to approach. Its talons are red, however, and I wonder who all that armor used to belong to. When it swings its blood-shot, smiling eyes at me, I no longer want to know.

We now enter the territory of truly powerful beings. For the lower Castes, the majority of the population of Oubliette, beings of eminent Caste and higher are too far removed from understanding for proper comprehension. They form a hazy, indistinct

“high Caste” category that few, if any, can hope to understand. In this particular Caste, beings are masters of not one, but several arts, and can easily take on challenges that would have seemed godly to a mortal. Many of these beings either lead organizations or serve even greater masters on missions of world-spanning importance.

Primary Concerns: Eminent Caste beings are usually too powerful for much to stand in their way, except for other similarly-powerful beings. Some simply keep moving foward, doing as they have always done, while others seek out new and complex tasks to set themselves at. Others still are driven by powerful obsessions or curses.

Examples: Relic Mongerp333, Draculean Peeragep264, Essence of Fearp270, Aegep240

§3.2.6

ForsakenRank 5, Mythological

I’ve been bringing him drinks when I can. A sip of water carried five miles from the well. A waterskin left on a rock. Except when I interrupt him, he just keeps digging. The quarry is a fathom deep

and his hands are broad, distended paddles, but this is what he has to do, he tells me. Tunnel until he hits bottom.

These beings do not simply exist, they act. To attain this level of power, a creature must actively seek power. Sitting

idle for too long brings even gods down to this Caste. Truly legendary creatures exist in this Caste. The forsaken are

generally the most powerful creatures the lower Castes have a chance at actually interacting with.

Primary Concerns: The forsaken are often driven by a desire for more power. They seek to enhance their

abilities or equipment, or to perfect their arts. Others become powerful as a side-effect of pursuing some

challenging goal, such as uniting a region, the performing of some miracle, or perfection of some art.Examples: Essence of Plaguep272, Tainted Giantp349, Might-

Godp312, Roosting Drakep335

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them as a necessary evil. Others see them as nothing but a nuisance. Other still have incorporated them into normal, usual daily life, where they operate businesses and do work just like anyone else. Regardless, a Goblin Sense of Humor always refers to mean pranks and schadenfreude.

History: Some believe that Oubliette is itself a goblin construction dating back to the earliest times when the creatures whisked away women and children from their homes. Though they are just as trapped here as the rest of us, there is some evidence that goblins have brought a number of people to Oubliette intentionally. No one is quite sure how this happens, or what implications it has for the possibility of escape, but numerous examples can be found in the histories.

Variations: gnomes, brownies, imps, kobolds, dwarves, grumbles, redcaps, gremlins, trow, boggles, roariefolk, tommynockers, peskin, greenteeth, draads, torwalkers, scatterbricks, hobs, bugbears, scampers, kegbottoms

Examples: The Goblin Kingp353, Koboldp295, Werething Goblinp365, Clawblinp257

§3.3.5.1 Stunts

Clamberling. You excel at getting into the hard-to-reach places of the Castle. Your explorations can take you anywhere—particularly where you’re not wanted. You get +2 on Athletics Overcome actions.

Scramblelord. When you succeed at all on an Athletics Overcome action and there are onlookers around to witness you, you may choose to immediately take a Lookit Me! Boost in addition to the other benefits of your success. You may only have one Lookit Me! Boost at a time. Posing is usually involved.

§3.3.6

Hulks“Careful! Might not look it, but there are trolls and giants hiding everywhere here, like pixies in the woods.”

“I don’t believe you!”

–First last words of a newcomer to Stonewald

Giants, trolls, ogres, and titans have appeared in European mythology for thousands of years. Their legend remains in the World of Life, but most of them have apparently been brought here, to Oubliette, where they tend

to take up residence in the Bounding, far from the din of city life.Appearance: Hulks are classified

by a humanoid shape and larger than normal human size. Few of them are attractive, though ancient Greek titans and other heroic-age

beings subvert this rule. Most have Powerful, Muscled Bodies, though some are Gaunt and

Wiry in shape. They have abundant body hair and decorate themselves with the bodies of their enemies.

Personality: Hulks often have little need for intellect, being Powerful Natural Predators. In the old world, there was little need for them to outsmart others. In Oubliette, many hulks have become clever enough to deter unwanted harassment, while others continue to plod through the afterlife with the same dull gaze as before.

Professions: Most hulks stay out of city life, preferring the relative solitude of Stonewald, The Henge, and the Bounding. They rarely live in close enough bands to develop specializations, but a few living close to the inner districts pull loads in exchange for valuable food and tools. Others, particularly titans and clever jotunns, move into the city, where they can Assert Their Power on lesser beings.

Arts & Skills: Hulks are, of course, exemplars of Physique. They usually avoid the Arts Social and Arts

Subtle in favor of Onslaught. Some groups are highly skilled in Smithing, Necessities, or Architecture.

Relations: Hulks are often seen by other folk as dim-witted bullies who can barely hold up a conversation.

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§3.4.2.1 Stunts

VIP. At the start of the second round of combat in any cell with a Draculean presence, soldiers from the local garrison rush to your aid. Gain the Reinforcements Situational Aspect with one free Invoke.

Plate and Veil. You get +2 to Defend with Will, so long as you are wearing either the black plate mail and thick veils that characterize Draculean military dress or a fabulously expensive courtly costume.

§3.4.3

FeedersThe only difference between Heaven and Hell is comfort. We believe that Oubliette can be either, and it’s up to us to make the choice. We believe that we can choose to make this Heaven, if only we can bring ourselves to help each other just a little bit. Consider this: you’ve got all the time in the world. What could it hurt to help your fellow man for a—

FREEESH SPIIIIIKE FISSSSSSHHHH!!!

—Feeder Pamphleteer and his Crier compatriot.

The Feeders take their name from the fact that most basic source of power, the most fundamental requirementc, is food. Food keeps the masses content, staves off ennui, and keeps people from slipping into insanity. Food is the easiest way to resuscitate the Broken. Food is what the great monsters flying the sky concern themselves with. Without food, c immortals fall.

The problem that they are routinely confronted with is how to distribute food in such a way that it gets to those who need it. While there are many logistical issues to deal with, the biggest part of this issue lies in opponent organizations, and because of that, the Feeders have become something of an insurrectionist force of freedom-fighters.

Goals: A long-touted ambition of the Feeders is to bootstrap all of the Broken back into useful lives, but this goal is so lofty and unreachable that the group has refocused its efforts on winning territory and followers. In their ideal world, there would be so much less violence and tyranny that food could be openly farmed and distributed to whoever needs it, whenever desired. To make their long-term intentions a reality, they’ve recently become more militant, seeking to destabilize the Draculeans, the Cutting gangs, and any other group that would stop them from

farming the arable land of Oubliette.Methods: There are three branches of the Feeders. Cooks

operate soup kitchens, hidden caches, and restaurants all over Oubliette. Sometimes they sell expensive foods to high-profile clientele so that they can use the funds to give food freely to others.

Farmers grow and collect food from sources that most organizations overlook: underground mushrooms, stormdrain spongemeat, refuse pile eyeweed, that sort of thing. Some have secret farms on top of buildings or deep underground for producing larger amounts of crops, but

these are harder to keep hidden.The soldiers handle logistics

and confrontations with other groups or individuals. Other times they organize “flash-feasts”

where they instantly distribute a large amount of meals to a large

number of people before the local authority can respond.

Relations: The Draculeans in particular have a large stake in keeping control over the

distribution of food. Because of their near-ubiquity, the Feeders have learned many

tricks for avoiding and dealing with Draculean patrols. So much of their effort goes into this opposition that many feel the Feeders have become little more than a kind of terrorist organization.

Nevertheless The Feeders will give food to anyone who comes to them for it, and they are experts in seeing to the needs of the unfortunate. They even have social systems in

place to deal with less obvious forms of nourishment than vegetables, meat, and bread: they can provide willing volunteers

for vampires and pnai in times of need.Approximate Caste: As Feeders are not

known to be high-Caste; there are only a few who are Forsaken or higher. Most are Lost or Rabble, feeding those on roughly the same social stratum as themselves.

Active Areas: The Feeders mostly operate their farms in Grandhall, Stonewald, Fellmoor, and Cutting. They are trying to expand into the surface areas of Mubigild, but progress is slow as there is much rubble to clear for farming.

Known Members: Aegep240, Hodwig Wheatspoonp289, Ilando Cinziap290

§3.4.3.1 Stunts

To Each According To His Need. You may use Resources instead of Rapport when you can promise the recipient food, shelter, or other necessities.

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Weeds are Flowers Too. Twice per session, when you fail or tie on a Necessities roll, you may instead succeed by exactly 1 Shift.

§3.4.4

The GuildAssist the Bonehorde, stop the Vaultbreakers from penetrating Castle Dragomar, deliver the a missive to Sebaal Cadramane, capture Beryse, and, of course, stop the Bonehorde at the same time. Then get some lunch and figure out what to do with the afternoon.

–Anselmo Milvus

“Things done, for a price” is the motto of the Guild. This multifaceted, complex mercantile organization is in the business of doing business. Agents of the Guild can be hired to capture, steal, sell, assassinate, torture, feed, clothe, or entertain anyone or anything, for the right price. Most of the time, assignments are organized with a clerk at a Guildhall, where contracts are made and signed. There is often a reconnaissance phase that follows for difficult or complex tasks. Some missions are even assigned to several Guild members at once.

The Guild is a complex financial institution, paying agents, clerks, and masters through various fees and wages. It has no central leadership, though there are dozens of councils and ward-level heads that organize matters between each cell. Generally, if a Guild member needs assistance on an assignment, they can stop by any Guildhall anywhere in the Castle to find help. Often, their neighbors have already been alerted to the situation.

Goals: The Guild exists not to fill a particular need, but any need. There may be hundreds, if not thousands, of similar businesses, but none is as expansive, durable, and skilled as The Guild. Individual Guild members are often motivated by selfish reasons: the Guild presents the most efficient and rewarding way to do business, and in the Guild, you can specialize as much as you want. Others are motivated more by a strong sense of community, as the Guild is one of the only factions in Oubliette where trust and recognition follow you wherever you go.

Methods: Every mission is a contract. Every contract executed is done for payment. Some contracts are drawn up and executed by individual Guild members, but most are written in Guildhalls, where the proper person for a

given job can be found. The agent is then sent to complete the assignment, and usually returns successful, because the Guild tries to make sure that no job is given to someone who can’t guarantee its completion. Fortunately, there are so many members of so many different kinds that almost any job can be fulfilled.

Relations: The Guild has good relations with other mercantile-type organizations, but agents are

often handled with some suspicion: the contracts the Guild fulfills are not always good for the target, and the Guild will take any job they can fulfill. Some groups, like the Draculeans and the gangs of Cutting have standing orders for the capture of Guild agents; most of the time the Guild is hired by the disenfranchised to damage these groups. Among the

lower-Caste civilian population, there is some resentment that Guild prices are so high, but such is the cost of doing business.

Approximate Caste: Like the Draculeans, there are

Guild members of every Caste. Even Refuse can assist in spying missions, but sometimes a god must fall and the contract must be filled.

Active Areas: The Guild is present in every district, but its mercantile centers are mostly

in Grandhall, Mubigild, and the Murder Heat.

Known Members: Coegilex Mongerp258, Mementop311,

Synesep348, Magicianp308

§3.4.4.1 Stunts

No Job Too Small. You can always find work, even if it doesn’t pay particularly well. Three times per session you can propose a Compel relating to a minor job that your character is working on. This might mean interrupting a foot-chase to rescue a Shade Kitten from a tree or sabotaging the defenses of a Draculean outpost instead of just getting out with their financial records. Either way, if you accept the Compel, not only do you get the usual Fate Point but you also gain the Situational Aspect Steady Paycheck with one free Invoke. If you already have Steady Paycheck, it gains another free Invoke.

I’m a Professional. When interacting with the Guild or with a potential employer, you may use your highest Arts Martial Skill instead of Rapport on Overcome actions to gain their trust or on Create an Advantage actions to request their help.

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§3.4.5

The MagiI thought about joining them once. For a time, all I too wanted was out. Then I realized the hollowness of that dream. People here are the same as they are in the world above. I tried explaining that to them once, to no effect. Thoughts of escape are their breath and blood. It would Break them to believe otherwise.

The Magi are a group of wizards, sorcerers, and spellstudies dedicated to a singular common purpose: escaping the World of the Forgotten. They examine the nature of Oubliette, poking and prodding at the veil, hoping to find a way back through. Surely, they reason, stories of people returning from the dead must have some basis in truth, and therefore the veil must have a gap somewhere. The Magi have been looking for this gap, physical, spiritual, or metaphysical, for eons.

Goals: The Magi seek the opposite of the Transcendence Club: an escape from this world, a way back to the World of Life. There is no other purpose, nothing that could be more important. Regardless of each individual’s personal desire to return, they argue that there really is only one ultimate goal in Oubliette, and that is crossing the veil once more. All their efforts (indeed, they say, all the efforts of everyone else in Oubliette) can be interpreted through this lens.

Methods: The Magi are superlative scientists, constructing elaborate mathematical theories to account for observations before testing them into obsolescence. Thousands, if not millions of theories have gone this way, filling tome after tome in the towers of the Magi. These theories are so complicated and require such humongous bodies of evidence that the Magi are often seen around the Castle, casting spells, making observations, and occasionally interfering with the lives of lesser immortals. They care little for the effect these ministrations have on their test subjects, aside from evidence gathered.

Relations: The Magi are purveyors of metaphysical, arcane, and scientific knowledge, but they rarely bother trading this knowledge to any other group; better to keep testing the latest theory than waste time with the small-minded. Those rare few who have dealings with them often note an ironic sort of hellishness to the existence of the Magi: forever looking for the door, trapped not only in the perpetual existence of immortality, but cornered by their own cyclical struggle to learn the unknowable. What could be worse, say others, for a scientific mind?

Approximate Caste: Individual Magi are powerful, but reclusive. They spend precious little energy dealing with others. Most are middle-Castes, tending towards Forsaken.

Active Areas: The Magi have towers and libraries in Fellmoor, Grandhall, Stonewald, and Deathborne.

Known Members: Magusp310, Priest Hunterp324

§3.4.5.1 Stunts

The Long Road. You get +2 when creating Advantages with Lore that pertain to reincarnation, the World of Life, the World of the Forgotten, or how we got here.

Proper Protective Equipment. You get +2 when using Arcane to Defend against magical, infectious, or venomous Attacks.

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§4.5.3.2 Relationship

Your Relationship Aspect exists to tie your characters to the others in an interesting way. It’s easier and more fun for everyone if the Player Characters need no introductions for each other. Having a Relationship Aspect helps keep the group together and adds interesting dynamics to the Player interaction.

If your Relationship is founded on another PC, you’ll need to collaborate with the other Player to figure out what sort of relationship is appropriate. They may or may not take a Relationship with you, depending on the situation and the story between the characters.

Your Relationship helps you overcome the mental stress and emotional damage that Oubliette inflicts on its inhabitants. Relationships can be as broad as being Devoted to the Ordo Sancti or they can be as personal as having A Love that Transcends Mortal Bodies. Like any other Aspect, Compels can be offered when your Relationship is in danger.

§4.5.4

Other AspectsHigher-Caste beings may have more Aspects still. You

can use these to create more Goals or Relationships, but you can also use them to inject more detail into your character, by giving them titles, beliefs, professional abilities, personality traits, or physical elements. Remember, an Aspect can be anything that is true about your character and is also core to who that character is.

§4.6

Skills & StuntsSkills are what you use during the game to do

complicated or interesting actions with the dice. Each character has a number of skills that represent his or her

basic capabilities, including things like perceptiveness, physical prowess, professional training, education, and other measures of ability.

At the beginning of the game, the Player Characters have Skills rated in steps from +1 to the Skill Cap. Higher is better, meaning that the character is more capable or succeeds more often when using that Skill.

If for some reason you need to make a roll using a Skill your character doesn’t have, you can always roll it at Mediocre (+0). There are a couple exceptions to this, like Skills that there’s no chance your character would have.

See Arts of the Unbrokenp82 for a complete list of Skills and Stunts.

§4.6.1

Skill GroupsThere are four main groups of skills:

� Arts Martial� Arts Subtle� Arts Social� Arts Professional

Each of these groups is focused around a particular theme. Selecting which two groups of Skills are most important to the game is part of the First Courtp210 and helps focus the action. While taking skills outside of the two focal groups is allowed, be aware that opportunities to use them may come up rarely. Depending on the Skill, the group, and the events that occur in the game, making one of these “outsider Skills” one of your best Skills may put you at a disadvantage.

§4.6.2

Starting SkillsThe number and power of skills a character starts with

is dependent on their Caste. Caste determines one’s Skill Cap, or the maximum rating a Skill can have at character creation.

Your character sheet has a chart with your Skills that looks something like this:

+6x1, +5x2, +4x3, +3x4, +2x5

This is a Skill Loadout. This particular loadout means you have one Skill with a +6 rating, two Skills with a +5 rating, and so on. Pick your character’s most important Skill and assign your highest rating (in this case a +6) to it. Then go down the line and assign Skills to ratings until there are no more left.

Example: Lucette’s Skills

Lore +6 Empathy +5 Arcane +5 Will +4 Rapport +4 Investigate +4 Exploration +3 Contacts +3

Scavenging +3 Elemental +3 Notice +2 Athletics +2 Resources +2 Alchemy +2 Religion +2

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Note: If you are writing up a stat block without a character sheet, you may also simply list the Skills in order of power:

Lore +6, Empathy +5, Arcane +5, Will +4, Rapport +4, Investigate +4, Exploration +3, Contacts +3, Scavenging +3, Elemental +3, Notice +2, Athletics +2, Resources +2, Alchemy +2, Religion +2

Note: If the group agrees ahead of time, you could alternatively use a more complex Skill distribution, which can be found in The Crumbling Towerp73 section. Whether or not this option is available is up to your group and your GM.

§4.6.3

Defining StuntsStunts are special tricks that your character knows

that allow you to get an extra benefit out of a Skill or alter some other game rule to work in your favor.5 Stunts are like special moves, letting you do something unique or distinctive compared to other characters. Two characters can have the same rating in a Skill, but their Stunts might give them vastly different benefits.

There is no default number of Stunts. Instead, characters purchase Stunts using Refresh. By default, a Stunt costs 1 point of Refresh. Some Stunts cost more, as indicated by (2r) or (4r). Refresh is important to flexibility, and Stunts are important for specificity, so it’s a good idea to try to strike a balance between the two.

Note: Once you pay for a Stunt with Refresh, you don’t need to pay Fate Points to use it, unless it says so in the Stunt description.

Stunts are often associated with a particular Skill, race, or faction. Skill-based Stunts are found under the individual Skills in Arts of the Unbrokenp82, Racial Stunts are listed in the Racesp77 chapter, and Faction-based Stunts are found in the Factionsp46 chapter. There are also General Stuntsp123 listed at the end of Arts of the Unbroken.

You don’t have to limit yourself to Stunts listed in the book, and indeed they should be considered a stepping off point. Players are encouraged to create new Stunts specifically for their characters and finalize them with the GM. When balancing new Stunts, you can use existing Stunts as examples or templates. See Creating New Stuntsp123 for more information.

§4.6.3.1 Stunts and Balancing

In general, especially for Ranks 0 – 6, you should try to avoid duplicating any Stunt selections. Focusing your character on a particular activity is fine, but you want to make sure that your character is more than one-dimensional. To make a rounded character, be sure that you

5 Dungeons & Dragons™ players may find these parallel Feats.

have spread out your abilities at least a little bit. Remember that you may spend a lot of the game doing things besides the one thing that you’re best at.

This is slightly less important at higher Castes, when you have so much Refresh to play with that you can afford to really drill down into a given area of specialization, but you should still aim to have a character with reasonably broad capabilities. Consider what other Skills and tricks your high-Caste character would have needed to pick up along the way to their current power. In Oubliette, nothing is ever simple.

The GM may decide that it’s easier and more expeditious to have a mechanical limit to the amount of Stunt-based bonuses that can be applied to a given roll. See Stunt Bonus Capsp229 for more information.

§4.6.4

The Crumbling TowerThe Crumbling Tower is a game-wide optional rule that

allows Players to distribute their Skills more widely than the standard Skill loadout given at each Caste. Because this optional rule is mostly PC-centric, it is presented here instead of in the GM’s list of optional rules.

When using the Crumbling Tower, Your Skills do not need to be organized into the specific loadouts described in the Starting Skillsp72 section. You will need to pay careful attention to this original loadout, however, as it provides a sort of ceiling your starting Skills cannot breach. You will also need to pay attention to how many overall points

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worth of Skill rating you have in all Skills. These points are referred to as Skill Points, or SP, and each Skill Point is equivalent to a +1 in a Skill. The starting SP values for each Caste are listed in the SP column of the Caste Statistics Chartp70.

The Crumbling Tower adds one simple allowance to how you organize your Skills: you may now decompose any single Skill into several lower-rating Skills that add up to the same number of SP.

At the moment, Lucette is Fallen Caste, with a Skill loadout that looks like +6x1, +5x2, +4x3, +3x4, +2x5. She decides she wants more options, and is willing to sacrifice some of her better abilities to get them.

Lucette decides that she doesn’t need both +5s, and decomposes one of them into a +3 and a +2. Her new loadout looks like +6x1, +5x1, +4x3, +3x5, +2x6. She may have reduced the number of +5 Skills she has, but she’s got more Skills in total now.

When acquiring new Skill ranks from advancement, you still can’t exceed the loadout for the next Caste up from your own. If your group is calculating Advancement based on Skills, keep track of your SP and use that to track whether it’s time to ascend to the next Caste or not.

§4.7

Refresh & Fate Points

Refresh is the number of Fate Points you get at the start of every game session to spend for your character. Your total resets to this number unless you had more Fate Points at the end of the last session.

You use tokens to represent how many Fate Points you have at any given time during play. Fate Points are one of your most important resources in Fate—they’re a measure of how much influence you have to make the story go in your character’s favor.

You can spend Fate Points to Invoke an Aspectp79, to Declare a Story Detailp80, or to activate certain powerful Stunts.6

There are four ways to gain Fate Points in the middle of the game.� You earn Fate Points if you choose to Accept a Compelp80 on one of your Aspects.� If someone pays a Fate Point to Invoke one of your Aspects against you, you receive the Fate Point they paid to Invoke it.� You earn Fate Points by Conceding a Conflict.� You gain an extra Fate Point for each Consequence you received in a Conflict you Concede.

6 Remember that you only need to pay Fate Points to use Stunts that specifically require you to do so.

§4.8

StressStress is one of the two options you have to avoid losing

a Conflict—it represents temporary fatigue, getting winded, superficial injuries, and so on. You have a number of stress levels you can burn off to help keep you in a fight, and they reset at the end of a conflict, once you’ve had a moment to rest and catch your breath.

Stress boxes are divided into Physical, Mental, and Resource tracks. A sword blow or a magical beam of lightning must be absorbed with Physical Stress Boxes or Consequences. Harassment, torture, and the like must be absorbed with Mental Stress Boxes or Consequences. Logistical issues, starvation, and lack of useful materiel are absorbed with Resource Stress Boxes.

You start with 2 Stress Boxes in each track. If you have Physiquep84, Willp86, or Resourcesp87 as Skills, you may have more Stress Boxes at your disposal, as stated in the Skill descriptions. Each track is composed of the total number of boxes. Each box is assigned a number that is its position in the track:

Lost Caste: 2 Base Stress + 1 Physical Stress Box (Physique +1) = 3 Physical Stress

Physical Stress [1] [2] [3]

Each Stress Box has a value in Shifts. The box’s value is equal to it’s position; box 1 is worth 1 Shift, box 2 is worth 2, and so on. This is how many Shifts that particular Stress Box can absorb.

You can only check off one Stress box per hit.

Stress Box #2 can absorb up to 2 Shifts of Stress:

Physical Stress [1] [X] [3]

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Another 2 Shift hit could be absorbed by the next box, because it can hold up to 3 Shifts.

Physical Stress [1] [X] [X]

Your character sheet probably has more Stress Boxes than you have access to. Simply fill in or cross out the ones you don’t have access to in order to make sure you have the right number open.

When you gain more Stress boxes, you simply extend your track 1 box.

[1] [2] + 1 Stress Box becomes [1] [2] [3]

§4.9

ConsequencesConsequences are the other option you have to stay

in a Conflict, but they have a more lasting impact. Every time you take a consequence, it puts a new Aspect on your sheet describing your injuries. Unlike Stress, you have to take time to recover from a Consequence, and it’s stuck on your character sheet in the meantime, which leaves your character vulnerable to complications or others wishing to take advantage of your new weakness.

Consequences come in three levels based on how many Shifts they are worth.

Consequence Shifts ValueMild 2

Moderate 4Severe 6

You start with 1 Consequence of each level.Consequences absorb damage differently from Stress

boxes. When you use a Consequence slot, you reduce the Shift value of the Attack by the Shift value of the consequence. You can use multiple Consequences to absorb a single hit.

Lucette takes a 3 Shift hit from a ball of elemental fire hurled by a Pyroclasm. Unfortunately, her Stress boxes are full. She has one Moderate consequence left. Since it can absorb up to 4 Shifts, she checks it off and writes “Painful Burns” on her sheet, in the appropriate Consequence slot.

Bonus Consequences given by Skills and Stunts often have a type of harm associated with them. Unlike Stress, you can have multiple Consequence slots of the same value and type.

§4.9.1

Extreme ConsequencesIn addition to the normal set of mild, moderate, and

severe Consequences, every PC also gets one last-ditch option to stay in a fight—the extreme Consequence. Between major Milestones, you can only use this option once.

An extreme Consequence will absorb up to 8-Shifts of a hit, but at a very serious cost—you must replace one of your Aspects (except the High Concept, that’s off limits) with the extreme Consequence. That’s right, an extreme Consequence is so serious that taking it literally changes who you are.

Unlike other Consequences, you can’t make a recovery action to diminish an extreme Consequence—you’re stuck with it until your next major Milestone. After that, you can rename the extreme Consequence to reflect that you’re no longer vulnerable to the worst of it, as long as you don’t just switch it out for whatever your old Aspect was. Taking an extreme Consequence is a permanent character change; treat it as such.

§4.10

Armor and Weapon Ratings

There are two more statistics that may arise while you are crafting your character: Armor and Weapon ratings. These are not specific objects,7 but abstract ratings with mechanical effects.

Armor rating subtracts a number from incoming damage, before you are forced to absorb it with Stress or Consequences. Be aware that some effects bypass Armor by forcing characters to take Stress or Consequences directly, rather than dealing damage the Player then manages.

Weapon rating adds a number of Shifts to the damage of successful Attacks, but does not apply to the initial Attack roll.

By default, characters do not have Weapon or Armor ratings. They are normally received from Stunts, particularly those in the General Skillsp84.

§4.11

Select NameNames in Oubliette are even more fluid than the people

bearing them. Few people retain their original names for long in Oubliette, often adopting nicknames, monikers, or descriptions given to them by others. Some even select completely new names to represent their detachment from their original lives.

Because families are less frequent in Oubliette, family names are often replaced with professional names or ethnonyms.

Example Names:Emmaine, Orkath, Alfin, Mason, Khlaa, Mina, Amilie,

7 Rather than designing specific items the way you might in another system, Fate handles equipment in a general, abstract way. See Skills and Equipmentp84 for more information on how to model equipment, and whether you even need to.

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Thilma, Ofwald, Ilde, Gimmain, Iomain, Chriane, Caoin, Luder, Fingail, Vallesse, Armeles, Dentius, Kirema, A’gia, Lilly, Aeredius, Floozer, Adrif, Blade, Kiaran, Azaraadi, Kelma, Kuziel, Razio, Livilian, Dargal, Thydded, Xaan, Cirtezia, Selaje, Mottie, Caria, Sirtigori, Galaduin, Yogia, Marakia Rael, Givarnos, Daniel, Woser, Celladach, Ashman, Clainteques, Amsiel, Airell, Engi, Follesse, Wertmann, Jurnis, Celanie, Ratbag, Mimos, Hjottein, Gacenette, Thuring, Feldfred, Argeron, Maur, Éorgred, Lenoch, Ronotha, Mercy, Lessio, Vanne, Girradan, Ilbert, Eugene, Biter, Hamand, Arusarn, Beniel, Marthe, Croslolt, Manelle, Gasette, Ulmain, Rottoria, Isru, Jurlelle, Malmsey, Fralenee, Cædda, Mumazzah, Xatan, Rar’lagg, Kailid, Giusto, Wonverford, Asriel, Huddar, Yraal Médallise, Ethrond, Garnodette, Ioth, Zur’l Denar, Iland, Edwine, Dabala, Wochs, Thilicin, Dousincoing, Leos, Alphiel, Belegorn,

Roser, Juziel, Bendikt, Ghamok, Alrow, Agendic, Pylimirasi, Arien, Giareste, Inania, Aberith, Eric,

Jancent, Casterre, Hifa, Gurg, Klyoth, Ligeccamyr, Miles, Olippliea,

Yaphos, Rorthol, Adelia, Ariel, Freca, Claude, Guinitte, Giola, Lise, Zal,

Roselve, Milie, Estaires, Oomokia Colleius, Fralinis, Ignatrine, Ranteloy, Enis, Magara, Kezon, Frabraham, Andolf, Jollocks, Corges, Koffmann, Mol’gg, Ghenne, Rayya, Chaulesse, Dahdbah, Murradres, Cagley, Argores, Holz, Arwing, Garugu, Fescent, Galathorn, Wanbentrove, Moniel, Mogul, Neriel, Stierie, Bellett, Gergio, Xogga Thenda, Ihliam, Cooper, Jahalik, Nemon, Hailin, Taranius, Gionano, Asto, Kathmas, Hamdi,

Ghor, Kiec, Glane, Drinks, Dairida, Gratius, Gibface, Ajoorti, Wetford, Rlbethia, Éodwyn, Dramaato, Pelia, Ystien, Petelena, Jughoom, Giore, Heléod, Welestone,

Urgomath, Coldrain, Roomuelia, Agnompienes, Kroth, Zarnoler, Lyring, Shrever, Bourbaire,

Juleille, Benech, Tinker, Kuldanute, Qoroth, Aume, Oronarth, Chassons, Togh, Vazey,

G’wok Losh, Pthoth, Helga, Roltermann, Falien, Maggaun, Men’g, Rayn, Baurge, Rahel, Rock, Idouard, Aswold, Mogal, Smellfeast, Lagrartha, Yr’wol Sterilie, Agern, Gorgny, Arhtheof, Véralles, Aubesse, Immonaar, Alphragail, Stone, Ishajah, Gobooth, Hescent, Vaziel, Molarson, Feinor, Highbrome, Sonthrol, Harkam, Groser, Salma, Larvey, Ælfwine, Æthedweard, Chanette, Fleures, Petrane, Bauer, Luibra, Guruho, Knife, Craston, Paulo, Maximillian, Laddadang, Banne, Gelaude, Kaiser, Jelam, Quisby, Silephan, Gabert, Salniel, Adrine, Grocha Grinock, Lommuel, Olaide, Y’gg, Margren, Sogath, Uxbridge, Svad, Stanley

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§5 Aspects of the Unbroken

4 Sextilis, 1468. I have finally met my first dragon, after all these years. Unfortunately, an eyeless waif has told me that I am dead. Nevertheless, I shall not be deterred from my course. I am a Slayer of the Order of the Drake, and I will see the end of that beast.

4 Sextilis, 1468, addendum. Dragons are durable. Unrelated note: I have found that I am immortal.

—The Journal of Sir Wilhelm

Aspects describe who and what a being is. They help condense down all the past history, physical abilities, likely relationships, and innumerable traits of an immortal into a few highly-indicative phrases. While Aspects cannot give you the entire picture of a person, they can suggest much of their story.

§5.1

Finding and Making Aspects

Fundamentally, Character Aspects can represent almost any trait, and they need not be taken exclusively from the book. Players and Game Masters alike are encouraged to come up with new Aspects, particularly those that evoke specific ideas or fit into the story of the game in a particular way. Many Aspects are presented in this book, as well (denoted in all caps) to give flavor to the world and to help Players and Game Masters quickly create beings based on the already-known lore of Oubliette.

You can also find a many pre-generated Aspects in the Bestiaryp239.

§5.1.1

RacesRaces are a good place to start finding Aspects. Many

inhabitants of Oubliette find their daily lives inextricably intertwined with their species, mutations, and appearance. Vampires are treated with a certain kind of respect and fear almost wherever they go, and likewise dragons are likely to induce terror in those unused to dealing with them. Good racial Aspects aren’t just a race, however, they are elaborations on racial concepts. Vampire could be an Aspect, but Vampiric Outsider to the Court of Vlad is much more evocative and interesting to think about. It also indicates a history with a group, and possibly even a

certain emotional distance. Well-elaborated racial Aspects can sometimes make usable high concepts for characters.

§5.1.2

ProfessionsProfessions often crop up in High Concepts, particularly

in beings that are human or very close to it. A Crusading Knight is, for example, interesting because of what he does rather than what he is. Profession1 usually makes up the particular set of skills and aptitudes that a person uses on a daily basis. Useful professions might be Hashashin Taskmaster or Necromantic Sorcerer, rather than something more simple like Swordsman or Wizard.

§5.1.3

TroublesTroubles are personal challenges or issues that

individual characters have. While they may sometimes be general, it’s usually better if they are specific to the individual in question, as they help define what and how a character thinks about the world. Troubles are usually given a negative slant, such as Hideous Limbs, but can sometimes—in the right situation—become advantageous. Troubles can come from nearly any source, so long as they are reasonably permanent and not too intertwined with the High Concept; racial features, beliefs, character flaws, and physical defects all make useful Troubles.

§5.1.4

GoalsA Goal is an Aspect representing something that a

character is driven to do, whether personally or by some outside force. Goal Aspects are not short-term, over-specific things: End Draculean Tyranny is better than Kill Kramoure Dragomar Again, because the latter will inevitably be achieved and replaced quickly.

§5.1.5

RelationshipsCharacters in Oubliette are expected to have many

relationships of different levels and strengths, but a Relationship Aspect is a particularly powerful one, usually reserved for someone close or overwhelmingly important, such as a loved one or trusted comrade. The more likely the Relationship is to come into play, the better.

1 Sometimes known as Character Class in other games.

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